DIY Wedding Photo Booth & Hilariously Epic Photo Booth Pics

One of my most favorite parts about DIYing a lot of our wedding was bringing the photo booth to life. Obviously, weddings with photo booths are so much more fun so I knew I wanted to have one and put my own swing on things. 

I had been to a few weddings that had an outside company come in with the whole photo booth setup but I knew that was well out of our budget {more on our Wedding Budget here} so I started browsing on Pinterest and eventually came across this very doable looking DIY photo booth where I could actually use my own Canon Rebel T3 DSLR camera. My Pinspiration is shown below with a link to the original idea. 

Via

Other than this one, there did not seem to be many brave optimistic souls who decided to use their own beloved camera around guests that had had a few drinks in them, small children, etc. Believe me, I was worried about all of these "What ifs," but I was dead set on saving money and having a very homemade feeling photo booth. 

I began by purchasing my Sunpak 6000 PG tripod after Christmas (Yes, of 2012, this was one of my first wedding "Must Haves") so that I could practice with it and get used to it.

Then I began researching shutter release buttons. I originally knew that there was a photography gadget that allowed one to take pictures without pressing the button on the actual camera but it took some research to find the one that would work the best. It also took a minor "Oops" moment in which I bought a Wireless Shutter Release Button on Amazon without checking its compatibilities only to realize that **of course** it was only compatible with Canon Rebel T3i's and other cameras but not my Canon Rebel T3. Word to the wise: make sure you find the one that will actually work with your camera (Duh!). Thankfully it was only a $9 blunder, but one that easily could have been avoided. I finally found the Canon Remote Switch RS60 E3 was compatible with my DSLR and quickly purchased the right one off of Amazon for $21.49. 

Yes, it is much more expensive than the wireless remote that is compatible with most other DSLRs but I figured I was already cutting corners by DIYing the Photo Booth so this expense was not too devastating. The cord is only two feet long also. Trust me, I believe for the price they could extend the cord by at least a few feet because being only two feet long really defeats the purpose of using a shutter release cord in the first place. I fixed this problem when I found another gadget that extended my cord 12 feet called the Steren Extension Cable which cost a whopping $4 but essentially saved me a lot of stress in the end. (Just be aware that this specific extension cord was compatible with my DSLR camera and the Canon Remote Switch I had already purchased so be sure to check what size the openings on your camera and cord are before purchasing if you have a different camera than mine.) 

Now that I had the gadgets purchased, I moved my attention to the props and direction board. I purchased a few dowels and cut them down to size to create six prop holders. Then, I created my own assortment of mustaches, lips, and a top hat.

Next I used one of the small chalkboards I had bought at Hobby Lobby, stained the edges, and fashioned some easy instructions for guests to know how to snap their own photos from behind the camera lens. 

Oh yea, remember that yellow tin I reused for a "S'more Stick Holder??" Here it was in it's first purpose of holding props for the photo booth! 

I also used an old suitcase I had on hand to hold some of the more 3D props I had accumulated. You see those white frames?! Those were one my favorite touches. I cut out some frames to look like Polaroid pictures and put our names and wedding date at the bottom.

The final set up looked a little something like this! Hope you love it as much as I do!!  

And on the day of... It's in the back left corner. 

Photo Credit: Jamie Lecce

Here are a few bloopers/ practice pictures for your entertainment...

And finally what I'm sure you have all been waiting for the "Hilariously Epic Photo Booth Pictures." 

Without further ado, my favorite pictures from our Photo Booth Camera Reel and a few Superlatives just for fun!! 

Most Hilariously Epic Photo Booth Picture

Funniest Family Photo

Craziest Christmas Card

Cutest Couple Picture

Overall, I was thoroughly satisfied with my version of a DIY Wedding Photo Booth. Guests LOVED it (as you can tell!) and it turned out so fun and enjoyable for all. I ended up sharing all of the photos on my Facebook for guests to tag themselves if they wanted to. I made sure there weren't any pictures posted that were too embarrassing. But I would love to do another project with the pictures like make a Shutterfly book with all of the pictures and/ or print them off and send them out to everyone around Christmas time.

FInally, I thought I would do a little Loved/ Didn't Love list for those of you thinking of doing one yourself! 

::LOVED::

* DIY Polaroids Frames.

*DIY Props

*Less money spent.

*Shutter Release Button worked Perfect

*No fatalities to my beloved camera

::DIDN'T LOVE/ SHOULD HAVES::

*Somehow some of the pictures I got with Brandon the day of didn't show up on the SD card so that was kind of a bummer.

*You can't really tell if people deleted pictures as they went.

*I should have had someone there watching the camera just in case.

*Kind of wish we had some sort of printer available so guests could take the photos home that night.

I will leave you with one more PG-13 rated photo courtesy of my best friend and obviously classy bridesmaid :P (Sorry if anyone is offended, it was just too funny not to share!)

Peace, 

Allison

.: If you like this wedding post, check out our Rustic DIY Barn Wedding tab above or click on the link!:.